19-Year-Old Joined Dad on Doomed “Titan” Dive, Ex-Employee Says Company Had 'No Concerns' About That

Suleman Dawood joined his father on the 2023 dive as a mission specialist, the title given to paying passengers or observers of dives

• Former OceanGate Director of Administration Amber Bay told a Coast Guard panel on Sept. 24 that there were no "true misgivings" about 19-year-old Suleman Dawood joining the 2023 dive as a mission specialist

• Suleman, his father and three other people — including OceanGate CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush — were killed when the sub imploded

• "I had the privilege of knowing the explorers whose lives were lost," a tearful Bay said at one point during her testimony
  

Before the Titan submersible imploded in June 2023, killing all five passengers, an ex-employee of the company behind the sub said there were "no concerns" that a 19-year-old would be among the people onboard.

Amid the ongoing Coast Guard hearings on the Titan implosion, Amber Bay, the former director of administration at OceanGate, testified on Tuesday, Sept. 24 that the company wasn't concerned about Suleman Dawood joining the dive with his dad Shahzada.

The two died, along with British businessman Hamish Harding, French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO and co-founder Richard Stockton Rush.

"[There were no] true misgivings," Bay said. "Stockton spoke to the family directly on a few occasions and met with them personally so there were no concerns once they’d been spoken with."

"Everyone understood and was ready and excited to dive," she added.

Related: New Details of the Titan Passengers' Final Moments and 3 More Highlights from Coast Guard Investigation

Suleman, described by an investigator at the hearing as a "mission specialist" — a title given to paying passengers or observers of its underwater dives aboard that final mission — was given his seat by his mother, Christine Dawood previously said during an interview with the BBC.

Dawood told the outlet that she had planned to visit the Titanic with her husband, but the trip was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I stepped back and gave them space to set [Suleman] up, because he really wanted to go," she told the outlet last summer. "I was really happy for them because both of them, they really wanted to do that for a very long time.”

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As for the final words she shared with her husband and son, Christine said, “Well we just hugged and joked actually, because Shahzada was so excited to go down, he was like a little child. So the sentence, we lost comm, I think that will be a sentence I never want to hear in my life again.”

Related: One Year After Titan Sub Disaster, Investigation into Implosion That Killed 5 Continues

In her testimony, Bay also pushed back on previous testimony by former OceanGate employee Antonella Wilby who alleged that after flagging an issue by a customer, she was told by Bay that she "didn't seem to have an explorer mindset."

Bay, who joined the company in 2018, testified during the Coast Guard's Titan sub hearing that Wilby was let go because Rush thought she was acting "erratically."

“I was asked by Stockton to release her from her contract, as she had acted erratically, unprofessionally, and had disturbed our crew during a challenging situation in the communications pit,” Bay said.

Related: Final Message from Doomed Titan Sub Revealed, Sent Seconds Before Losing Contact with the Surface

Like many of her former colleagues, Bay became emotional as she spoke about the lives lost that day in June 2023.

"I had the privilege of knowing the explorers whose lives were lost: Stockton, P.H., Shahzada, Suleman and Hamish," she said. "There’s not a day that passes that I don’t think of them, their families and their loss. It’s been a difficult year for them, for all of us.”

“I would also like to thank the board for the work they’ve done and continue to do,” she tearfully added.

After the hearing ends on Friday, Sept. 27, the Coast Guard will “review testimony from technical experts, crew members, and other relevant parties, and will examine evidence related to the submersible’s design, operation, and safety protocols." Investigators will submit a final report once their work is complete, which is expected to go beyond the two-week hearing.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, a spokesperson for OceanGate, which has suspended all business activity and "has no full-time employees," said the company has "been fully fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] investigations since they began, including at the ongoing public hearing convened by the Coast Guard. OceanGate is represented at the hearing by Jane Shvets and Adrianna Finger of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP."

"OceanGate expresses our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in the tragic implosion of the Titan," the statement continued. "There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this devastating incident, but we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy."

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